Sorry if you missed me yesterday. It was one of those crazy days. Race day. Unfortunately not for me… But it was race day for Marc. So on the road at 6 a.m., many hours of driving later and we arrived at the race site with a mere 40 minutes to spare! Marc had a good race in the very cold conditions (finished 11th). Nice lunch and cappuccino in the cafe and then back in the car for the drive home. Made it – tired and a bit weary.

But not rest for the wicked! Nope – trainer time for me. Sigh. I’m not a “late trainer” – I prefer to ride first thing in the morning. But such is life. Luckily it was a good hard ride, so the time passed relatively quickly. Season 1 of the Wire helps a lot as well. On deck yesterday – micro-burst intervals. Love this work-out. So hard. But it feels so good.

A solid chilled out evening. We’ve got a new house guest here so we took him on a bit of a tour looking for some food. Unfortunately our favorite little cafe was closed. Back to the house to eat leftovers. Then I sacked out. Pretty exciting life…

Today was another couple of hours on the trainer… I really wanted to ride outside but I have to err on the side of caution (so everyone says…). This time it was a long endurance ride with a chunk of tempo at the end. I’ve now watched the entire first season of the Wire. Excellent program. Now I need season two…

What else is up? Well, I talk a lot about my physical training, my attention to nutrition, stretching (yoga), resting, etc. But I never really talk about the mental training. Perfectly good reason for this – until now I really haven’t done any “real” mental training. I’ve dabbled here and there. I’ve tried to do the imagery and positive self-talk, but I really haven’t given it the attention it deserves. Well, I started working with a mental training consultant. I’ve only had one session so far (have another one tonight), but so far so good. It helps to talk with someone who I don’t have a “connection” with – I can be totally honest about what is and isn’t going on in my brain. I feel like I should have been doing this kind of work weeks/months ago. But as the saying goes, “better late than never”. I’m not expecting miracles from this, just like everything else some slow and steady progress.

Looking forward to riding outside tomorrow. Yes, I’ll be careful. Nothing crazy off-road riding. Just need to get out and get some fresh air. Keep pedaling and remember rubber side down.